XMM-Newton reveals new twists on the origin of the Spiral planetary nebula
Minimum credit line: Image courtesy of J.A. Toalá, R. Montez Jr and M. Karovska and ESA. (for details, see Conditions of Use).
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| About this Image |
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NGC 5189, also called the Spiral Planetary Nebula, is at such an advanced phase in its evolution that X-rays from its internal hot bubble should have faded. However, XMM-Newton has revealed the presence of a large carbon-rich hot bubble embedded within the spiraling nebulosity. This is the largest hot bubble detected to date from the planetary nebula phase of sun-like stars and indicates the potential resurgence of the progenitor star of NGC 5189. The images feature a combination of space-based observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and the XMM-Newton. The left panel shows a combination of ionized hydrogen (red) and oxygen (green) from HST and X-ray emission (blue) from XMM. The right panel shows the infrared emission from WISE (red), ionized oxygen from HST (green), and X-ray emission from XMM (blue), with contours further detailing the location of the X-ray emission and the dashed-line circle indicating the position of the progenitor star.
Investigator(s): J.A. Toalá, R. Montez Jr and M. Karovska
| For More Information |
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- Detailed description of this image
- Query XSA archive for XMM-Newton data in the field of NGC 5189
- Astronomical database entries for NGC 5189;
- Query SIMBAD for more NGC 5189 data
- For unfamiliar terms, visit the XMM-Newton Astronomical Glossary
| Instrument | EPIC | ||
| Observing Mode | Full Frame | ||
| Filter | Thin | ||
| Date of Observation | 2018-02-05 | ||
| Image size | 0.00 x 0.00 arcsec | ||
| Detailed Caption | Planetary nebulae (PNe) represent a fleeting phase of stellar material lost by solar-like stars. Within the short-lived planetary nebula phase a hot bubble forms early when the star drives a strong stellar wind but fades within a few thousand years. In particular, the Chandra Planetary Nebula Survey (CHANPLANS) only detected X-ray emitting hot bubbles from young (<5,000 year) and compact (< 0.2 pc) nebulae and predominantly from those that harbor hydrogen-deficient progenitor stars. New observations by XMM-Newton have revealed a carbon-rich hot bubble inside NGC 5189 with a temperature of 1.6 million degrees. The hot bubble fills the cavities seen in the Hubble Space Telescope [O III] image. NGC 5189 is intriguing in that its inner cavities are much larger (~0.7 pc) than any previously-detected hot bubble. Additionally, its central star exhibits high luminosity and temperature and Wolf-Rayet-like features. Together these characteristics suggest that the nebula is old but the star seems to have been recently rejuvenated. A similar situation has been reported in so-called "born-again" PNe A30 and A78. Born-again PNe represent a very specific evolutionary path of solar-like stars in which a very late thermal pulse ejects carbon-enriched material inside an evolved, hydrogen-rich PNe. After the born-again event a new fast wind is developed, powering a carbon-rich hot bubble. In the figure we show a comparison between the soft X-ray emission (0.3 - 0.7 keV) detected with the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board XMM-Newton with that of the Hα and [O III] obtained with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the WISE 12 micron band. | ||
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